Bergen County to unveil memorial to victims of WW2 Japanese 'comfort stations'

County officials will soon announce a new date to unveil a stone in front of the courthouse that will honor women sexually enslaved in Japanese-occupied territories before and during World War II.

The Comfort Women Memorial, the second of its kind in Bergen County, has been in the works for months and will be dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of women reportedly forced into sexual slavery in “comfort stations” set up by the Japanese armed forces from the 1930’s to 1945.

John Gil, a county spokesman, said Wednesday the county will announce a new date for the ceremony in the next few days and said the event will likely take place when the weather is warmer.

A public ceremony was scheduled last month for the unveiling of the stone, but was postponed because the wording on the plaque was wrong. Gil said the error consisted of a reference to the Japanese government, which was not approved by anyone.

“It was a total error by the engraver referencing an old e-mail,” said Gil.

The memorial will be the second such tribute in Bergen County for the women known by the name of “comfort women.”

Palisades Park dedicated a stone and a plaque in 2010, which drew international attention from Japanese and South Korean elected officials last year.

In the spring, Palisades Park Mayor James Rotundo said a group from the Japanese parliament met with him and other borough officials and asked that the stone be removed because of historical inaccuracies. Rotundo refused. Since then, the stone has drawn visitors from South Korea and North Jersey elected officials who have publicly supported the stone.

Months later, the county announced plans to erect its own tribute to the women.

Nuri Han, a member of the Bergen County Comfort Women Memorial Committee charged with raising funds for the county stone, said she was told that it would take a little over a month to redo the plaque. That's why there has been a delay in picking the ceremony date.

Han said the engraver of the plaque was from Fort Lee, but declined to give his name.

The memorial, according to information provided by the county, will contain the following words:

"In memory of hundreds of thousands of women and girls from Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Indonesia and other Japanese-occupied territories who were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Armed Forces of Japan before and during World War II."